Inverse tone pillar printing method using organic planarizing layer pillars

ABSTRACT

An initial semiconductor structure includes an underlying substrate, a hard mask stack, an organic planarization layer (OPL), a first complementary material, and a patterned photoresist layer patterned into a plurality of photoresist pillars defining a plurality of photoresist trenches. The first material is partially etched inward of the trenches, to provide trench regions, and the photoresist is removed. The trench regions are filled with a second complementary material, preferentially etchable with respect to the first material. A polymer brush is grafted on the second material but not the first material, to form polymer brush regions with intermediate regions not covered by the brush. The first material is anisotropically etched the at the intermediate regions but not the brush regions. The OPL is etched inward of the intermediate regions, to provide a plurality of OPL pillars defining a plurality of OPL trenches inverted with respect to the photoresist pillars.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/400,003 filed Apr. 30, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,133,195, thecomplete disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein byreference in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to the electrical and electronic arts, andmore specifically, to semiconductor fabrication techniques and the like.

Various aspects of semiconductor fabrication require the lithographicpatterning of pillar and/or trench features. There are a number ofissues with regard to the current state of the art as it relates to theuse of EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography.

Due to the small sizes and “brightfield” nature of the lithography,printing pillars with a positive-tone resist in EUV leads tounacceptably-high pattern distortion, number of defects, and collapse.Furthermore, direct print of a trench in the sub-32 nm-pitch regime hasprocess limitations due to resist scumming that forms microbridges.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention provide techniques for inverse tonepillar printing.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an exemplary methodincludes providing an initial semiconductor structure including anunderlying substrate, a hard mask stack outward of the underlyingsubstrate, an organic planarization layer outward of the hard maskstack, a first complementary material outward of the organicplanarization layer, and a patterned photoresist layer outward of thefirst complementary material, wherein the patterned photoresist layer ispatterned into a plurality of photoresist pillars defining a pluralityof photoresist trenches. Further steps include partially etching thefirst complementary material inward of the trenches, to provide firstcomplementary material trench regions in the first complementarymaterial; removing the patterned photoresist layer; and filling thetrench regions in the first complementary material with a secondcomplementary material, wherein the second complementary material ispreferentially etchable with respect to the first complementarymaterial. Even further steps include grafting a polymer brush on thesecond complementary material but not the first complementary material,to form polymer brush regions with intermediate regions of firstcomplementary material not covered by the polymer brush; anisotropicallyetching the first complementary material at the intermediate regions butnot the polymer brush regions; and etching the organic planarizationlayer, inward of the intermediate regions, to provide a plurality oforganic planarization layer pillars in the organic planarization layer.The organic planarization layer pillars define a plurality of organicplanarization layer trenches in the organic planarization layer, and theorganic planarization layer trenches are inverted with respect to thephotoresist pillars. The polymer brush is also removed during the etchof the organic planarization layer.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, anotherexemplary method includes providing an initial semiconductor structureincluding an underlying substrate, a hard mask stack outward of theunderlying substrate, an organic planarization layer outward of the hardmask stack, a first complementary material outward of the organicplanarization layer, a second complementary material outward of thefirst complementary material, wherein the second complementary materialis preferentially etchable with respect to the first complementarymaterial, and a patterned photoresist layer outward of the secondcomplementary material, wherein the patterned photoresist layer ispatterned into a plurality of photoresist pillars defining a pluralityof photoresist trenches. Further steps include etching the secondcomplementary material and partially etching the first complementarymaterial, inward of the photoresist trenches, to provide firstcomplementary material-second complementary material trench regions inthe second complementary material and the first complementary material,with first complementary material-second complementary material pillarregions intermediate the first complementary material-secondcomplementary material trench regions; removing the patternedphotoresist layer; and grafting a polymer brush on the firstcomplementary material-second complementary material trench regions butnot the first complementary material-second complementary materialpillar regions. Even further steps include etching the firstcomplementary material-second complementary material pillar regions butnot the first complementary material-second complementary materialtrench regions with the polymer brush; and etching the organicplanarization layer, inward of the first complementary material-secondcomplementary material pillar regions, to provide a plurality of organicplanarization layer pillars in the organic planarization layer. theorganic planarization layer pillars define a plurality of organicplanarization layer trenches in the organic planarization layer. theorganic planarization layer trenches are inverted with respect to thephotoresist pillars. the polymer brush is also removed during the etchof the organic planarization layer.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, stillanother exemplary method includes providing an initial semiconductorstructure including an underlying substrate, a hard mask stack outwardof the underlying substrate, an organic planarization layer outward ofthe hard mask stack, a first complementary material outward of theorganic planarization layer, and a patterned photoresist layer outwardof the first complementary material, wherein the patterned photoresistlayer is patterned into a plurality of photoresist pillars defining aplurality of photoresist trenches. Further steps include partiallyetching the first complementary material inward of the trenches, toprovide first complementary material trench regions in the firstcomplementary material; removing the patterned photoresist layer; andfilling the trench regions in the first complementary material with asecond complementary material, wherein the second complementary materialis preferentially etchable with respect to the first complementarymaterial. Still further steps include selectively depositing a thirdcomplementary material on the second complementary material to form aplurality of third complementary material-covered regions and aplurality of intermediate regions not covered with the thirdcomplementary material, wherein the third complementary material isselected to grow selectively on the second complementary material butnot directly on the first complementary material, and wherein the thirdcomplementary material is preferentially etchable with respect to thefirst complementary material; anisotropically etching the firstcomplementary material inward of the intermediate regions but not inwardof the third complementary material-covered regions; and etching theorganic planarization layer, inward of the intermediate regions, toprovide a plurality of organic planarization layer pillars in theorganic planarization layer. The organic planarization layer pillarsdefine a plurality of organic planarization layer trenches in theorganic planarization layer, and the organic planarization layertrenches are inverted with respect to the photoresist pillars.

Techniques of the present invention can provide substantial beneficialtechnical effects. For example, one or more embodiments provide reduceddefects in lithographic printing of features during semiconductorfabrication and/or enhanced control of critical dimensions duringsemiconductor fabrication.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description of illustrativeembodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following drawings are presented by way of example only and withoutlimitation, wherein like reference numerals (when used) indicatecorresponding elements throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side cross-sectional view of a starting structure, accordingto the prior art, which serves as a starting point in a semiconductorfabrication process in accordance with both first and second exemplaryembodiments;

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of the structure of FIG. 1 after apartial etch, in accordance with both the first and second exemplaryembodiments;

FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of the structure of FIG. 2 afterresist ashing, in accordance with both the first and second exemplaryembodiments;

FIG. 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the structure of FIG. 3 afteroxide deposition, in accordance with both the first and second exemplaryembodiments;

FIG. 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the structure of FIG. 4 afterpolymer brush grafting, in accordance with the first exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a side cross-sectional view of the structure of FIG. 5 afteranisotropic etching, in accordance with the first exemplary embodiment,also including a plot of film loss as a function of time during etching;

FIG. 7 is a side cross-sectional view of the structure of FIG. 6 afterorganic planarization layer (OPL) etching, in accordance with the firstexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 8 shows side cross-sectional views of an alternative approach tothe first exemplary embodiment, with an over-etch and selectivegrafting;

FIG. 9 is a side cross-sectional view of the structure of FIG. 4 afterselective nitride deposition, in accordance with the second exemplaryembodiment, also depicting details of a “mushrooming” aspect;

FIG. 10 is a side cross-sectional view of the structure of FIG. 9 afteran anisotropic etch, in accordance with the second exemplary embodiment,also depicting details of a “mushrooming” aspect; and

FIG. 11 is a side cross-sectional view of the structure of FIG. 10 afterorganic planarization layer (OPL) etching, in accordance with the secondexemplary embodiment;

It is to be appreciated that elements in the figures are illustrated forsimplicity and clarity. Common but well-understood elements that may beuseful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment may not beshown in order to facilitate a less hindered view of the illustratedembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Principles of the present invention will be described herein in thecontext of several illustrative embodiments. It is to be appreciated,however, that the specific embodiments and/or methods illustrativelyshown and described herein are to be considered exemplary as opposed tolimiting. Moreover, it will become apparent to those skilled in the artgiven the teachings herein that numerous modifications can be made tothe embodiments shown that are within the scope of the claims. That is,no limitations with respect to the embodiments shown and describedherein are intended or should be inferred.

One or more embodiments enable the use of direct print EUV (ExtremeUltraviolet) lithography for printing pillars and/or for inverting thetone for trench patterning. As noted above, there are a number of issueswith regard to the current state of the art. Due to the small sizes and“brightfield” nature of the lithography, printing pillars with apositive-tone resist in EUV leads to unacceptably-high patterndistortion, number of defects, and collapse. Furthermore, direct printof a trench in the sub-32 nm-pitch regime has process limitations due toresist scumming that forms microbridges. One or more embodimentsadvantageously invert the tone so as to widen the process window byincorporating the bridges in the masked area. Heretofore, non-selectivetone-inversion schemes have suffered from pattern density and sizedependency.

One or more embodiments provide a new process flow for tone inversionwhich focuses on the reinforcement of the exposed hardmask (HM). A firstnon-limiting exemplary embodiment (FIGS. 1-7 with alternative in FIG. 8) employs selective grafting of a polymer to reinforce tone inversionetch in a dual HM scheme. A second non-limiting exemplary embodiment(FIGS. 1-4 , same for both embodiments, and FIGS. 9-11 ) employsselective deposition of a top film.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , an exemplary materials stack includesultra-low conductivity material (ULK) 101; a ULK hard mask stack 103including, e.g., Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), TiN, and sacrificialSiN; an organic planarization layer 105; an amorphous silicon layer 107,and a resist layer 109 that has been directly patterned with EUV. Thepattern has a feature width a, with pillars 110 of width 0.5a, andintermediate trenches 112 of width 0.5a (width of trenches not labeledto avoid clutter). There is a lack of uniformity in the patterns,resulting in defects. All the trenches in the resist 109 do not run allthe way down to the amorphous silicon layer 107, resulting innano-bridges at 111, 113. There are also variations in the height of theresist 109, which may cause line break. In one or more embodiments,patterning is carried out at or close to a 1:1 duty cycle. Note that theskilled artisan will be familiar with the fabrication of structures suchas depicted in FIG. 1 . In a non-limiting example, the thickness of thea-Si can be about 10-15 nm.

Referring now to FIG. 2 , one or more embodiments break through theresist 109 and begin etching the amorphous silicon 107 to provideamorphous silicon trench regions 116. Bridges may form in the amorphoussilicon, as seen at 115, 117. In particular, one or more embodimentsemploy a first, de-scum etch; e.g., an HBr/O₂ etch—this etch attacks theresist and also starts etching into the underlying a-Si 107. An Ar/O₂etch could also be used. The first etch is employed, in one or moreembodiments, until the thickest bridge (e.g. 113 in FIG. 1 ) in theresist has been etched through. One or more embodiments then furtheremploy a second etch to attack the a-Si; for example, CHF₃/C₄F₈chemistry, resulting in the structure shown in FIG. 2 , wherein theresist has been etched completely through in the trenches while theamorphous silicon has in some locations (e.g. 119) etched completelyaway while in other locations (e.g. 115, 117) bridges remain. In one ormore embodiments, the a-Si thickness/etch chemistry is optimized toensure that the bridge height in the a-Si is less than the totalthickness of the a-Si.

Note that in alternative embodiments, an additional organic layer can beprovided between layers 107 and 109. If such is present, it should alsobe etched away at this point, such that each trench 116 extends into thea-Si layer 107.

FIG. 3 shows the structure after ashing the resist 109 and any otherorganic material so that only trenches in the inorganic material (a-Si107) remain. The heights of the trenches in the a-Si 107 vary.

In FIG. 4 , the trenches in the a-Si 107 are filled with an oxidematerial 121. Non-limiting examples of accomplishing this aspect includedeposition and etch-back of flowable oxide; note that atomic layerdeposition (ALD) of oxide can also be used. The oxide can be applied tofill the trenches and extend over an outer surface of the a-Si layer andthen be etched back via an atomic layer etching (ALE) or quasi-ALEprocess which provides high selectivity for better stopping on the a-Silayer 107. Some embodiments employ, for example, C₄F₈ or CF₄ basedchemistry for etch-back of the oxide; in some cases, selectivity to a-Simay have limited pertinence since the a-Si is sacrificial.

Referring now to FIG. 5 , one or more embodiments advantageously carryout selective polymer grafting on the gap-fill oxide regions 121, asseen at 123. The grafted material 123 is distinct from the a-Simaterial. The grafted material 123 is selected to graft to the oxideregions 121 but not the a-Si 107, thus forming polymer brush regions 123with intermediate regions 124 of amorphous silicon not covered by thepolymer brush. As seen in graph 125 in FIG. 5 , an organic material canbe successfully selectively grafted to SiN and SiO₂, but will not graftsignificantly to the a-Si. One or more non-limiting exemplaryembodiments employ a DHF (dilute Hydrofluoric acid) wet clean followedby selective polymer grafting. Spin-on selective polymer brush graftingon the oxide enhances etch selectivity. Polymer brushes with phosphonicacids/glycerol end groups will graft selectively to oxide/nitride (whichare terminated with —OH functionality) vs. a-Si (—H terminated).

FIG. 6 shows an anisotropic a-Si etch carried out to remove the a-Si 107in regions 127 (corresponding to the intermediate regions 124) notprotected by the oxide 121 and polymer brush 123. Having the protectingpolymer selectively on the oxide reinforces the removal of a-Si withoutany gouging at this length scale (etch selectivity is enhanced). Thea-Si etch can be carried out, for example, with CHF₃/CF₄ chemistry. Asseen in graph 129 in FIG. 6 , the film loss in Angstroms as a functionof time in seconds is minimal for the SiO₂+polymer brush and SiO₂regions, but significant for the a-Si regions.

FIG. 7 shows further etching into the OPL 105. A partial enlargement ofregion 131 is shown at 131A. The polymer brush portion is removed duringthe OPL etch, since the chemical compositions are similar. The etchingprovides a plurality of organic planarization layer pillars 130 defininga plurality of organic planarization layer trenches 132.

FIG. 8 shows a variation of the first embodiment. Layers 101, 103, 105,and 107 are generally similar to those described above. However, abovethe a-Si 107, another inorganic layer 133 is provided (e.g., SiN),rather than having the resist right on top of the a-Si. Referring firstto view 132 in FIG. 8 , in this case, etch through the nitride 133 firstand then into the a-Si 107. The resulting trenches 135 may have an equalor unequal depth into the a-Si layer 107. View 132 thus depicts etchingthe nitride 133 and partially etching the amorphous silicon 107, inwardof the photoresist trenches, to provide nitride-amorphous silicon trenchregions 135 in the nitride and the amorphous silicon layer, withnitride-amorphous silicon pillar regions 134 intermediate thenitride-amorphous silicon trench regions.

Then, referring to view 136, selectively coat a polymer brush 137 onlyon the exposed a-Si 107 and not on the nitride 133. The same selectivechemistries between SiN and a-Si can be employed as discussed above.However, instead of an overall deposit and etch-back to invert the tone,as above, here, selectively deposit on the exposed a-Si trenches and noton the nitride at the top. The process can then continue with etching asabove to invert the tone. View 136 in FIG. 8 of the “variation” firstembodiment corresponds to FIGS. 4 and 5 in the “main” first embodiment.In FIG. 4 , deposit the oxide 121 and etch it back till it is flush withthe a-Si 107, then polymer brush 123 on the oxide in FIG. 5 . In FIG. 8, directly polymer brush on top of the a-Si 107. The other part remainsopen and instead of grafting on the gap fill material, graft on the openhard mask area. One or more embodiments employ brushes with graftingselective to oxide/nitride vs a-Si, or vice-versa. One or moreembodiments over-etch into the bottom dielectric film, with selectivegrafting to the bottom dielectric film.

One pertinent aspect in one or more embodiments is the use of aselective grafting material to invert the tone. This can be done at thelocations where the material has been opened or gap filling can beemployed.

A second embodiment uses steps similar to those illustrated in FIGS. 1-4. Then, referring to FIG. 9 , selective ALD 140 (e.g., of nitride) iscarried out over the oxide regions 121. Nucleation occurs over the oxideregions 121 but not the a-Si 107. Mushrooming or overgrowth occursduring selective deposition as shown schematically at 141A (enlargementof 141) and in a micrograph at 143. The lateral extent of themushrooming is labeled as “x” in view 141A while exemplary actualdimensions (11 nm lateral, 10 nm vertical extent) are shown in view 143.Other embodiments could have other values. FIG. 9 thus depictsselectively depositing nitride on the oxide to form a plurality ofnitride-covered regions 140 and a plurality of intermediate regions 142not covered with the nitride. An additional control over criticaldimension (CD) is thus available via the overgrowth, which can be usedto control the width by controlling the number of cycles of ALD. Thewidth/critical dimension can be increased by twice the overgrowth x(since overgrowth extends on each side). One or more embodiments employa DHF wet clean followed by selective deposition (selective ALD ofnitride 140 on oxide 121). The extent of mushrooming can be preciselycontrolled in one or more embodiments by controlling the number of ALDcycles. As is known to the skilled artisan, selective deposition candistinguish between SiO₂ vs. a-Si based on surface hydrophobicity.

As seen in FIG. 10 , carry out an anisotropic etch of the a-Si 107 whichis reinforced by the selectively formed top surface (nitride 140); thea-Si between the nitride regions is etched away down to the OPL 105.Suitable chemistry for the a-Si etch includes, e.g., HBr or Cl₂-basedchemistry selective to nitride/oxide. As seen in FIG. 11 , etch the OPL105 down to the ULK hard mask stack 103. Region 151A is an enlargementof region 151. FIG. 11 thus depicts etching the organic planarizationlayer, inward of the intermediate regions 142, to provide a plurality oforganic planarization layer pillars 153 in the organic planarizationlayer; the organic planarization layer pillars define a plurality oforganic planarization layer trenches 155.

One or more embodiments use a sacrificial organic layer to reverse thelithography tone to create pillars, as opposed to using a sacrificialorganic layer for pitch doubling. One or more embodiments provide a newprocess flow for tone inversion which focuses on the reinforcement ofthe exposed hardmask (HM). Some embodiments employ selective grafting ofa polymer to reinforce tone inversion etch in a dual HM scheme. Someembodiments employ selective deposition of a top film.

One or more embodiments provide a method to invert the tone duringpattern transfer through the top hardmask of a lithography stack, wherethe hardmask is reinforced by a preferentially grafted organic material123, 137 that enables thickness scaling of the hardmask film fordefect-free pattern transfer.

One or more embodiments provide a method to invert the tone duringpattern transfer through the top hardmask of a lithography stack, wherethe hardmask is reinforced by a preferentially deposited inorganicmaterial 140 that enables thickness scaling of the hardmask film fordefect-free pattern transfer. In some such embodiments, mushroom-typeselective deposition of the inorganic hardmask is used to control thecritical dimension of the pattern.

It will be appreciated that materials other than those described hereincan be employed in inverse tone pillar printing.

There are numerous techniques used by those skilled in the art to removematerial at various stages of creating a semiconductor structure. Asused herein, these processes are referred to generically as “etching”.For example, etching includes techniques of wet etching, dry etching,chemical oxide removal (COR) etching, and reactive ion etching (RIE),which are all known techniques to remove select material when forming asemiconductor structure. The techniques and application of etching arewell understood by those skilled in the art and, as such, a moredetailed description of such processes is not presented herein.

Although the overall fabrication method is novel, certain individualprocessing steps required to implement the method may utilizeconventional semiconductor fabrication techniques and conventionalsemiconductor fabrication tooling. These techniques and tooling willalready be familiar to one having ordinary skill in the relevant artsgiven the teachings herein. Moreover, one or more of the processingsteps and tooling used to fabricate semiconductor devices are alsodescribed in a number of readily available publications, including, forexample: James D. Plummer et al., Silicon VLSI Technology: Fundamentals,Practice, and Modeling 1st Edition, Prentice Hall, 2001 and P. H.Holloway et al., Handbook of Compound Semiconductors: Growth,Processing, Characterization, and Devices, Cambridge University Press,2008, which are both hereby incorporated by reference herein. It isemphasized that while some individual processing steps are set forthherein, those steps are merely illustrative, and one skilled in the artmay be familiar with several equally suitable alternatives that would beapplicable.

It is to be appreciated that the various layers and/or regions shown inthe accompanying figures may not be drawn to scale. Furthermore, one ormore layers of a type commonly used in such integrated circuit devicesmay not be explicitly shown in a given figure for ease of explanation.This does not imply that the layer(s) not explicitly shown are omittedin the actual integrated circuit device.

Given the discussion thus far, it will be appreciated that, in generalterms, an exemplary method, according to an aspect of the invention,includes the step (see FIG. 1 ) of providing an initial semiconductorstructure including an underlying substrate 101, a hard mask stack 103outward of the underlying substrate, an organic planarization layer 105outward of the hard mask stack, a first complementary material (e.g.,amorphous silicon layer 107) outward of the organic planarization layer,and a patterned photoresist layer 109 outward of the first complementarymaterial. The patterned photoresist layer is patterned into a pluralityof photoresist pillars 110 defining a plurality of photoresist trenches112. A further step, as seen in FIG. 2 , includes partially etching thefirst complementary material inward of the trenches, to provide firstcomplementary material trench regions 116 in the first complementarymaterial. A still further step, as seen in FIG. 3 , includes removingthe patterned photoresist layer. An even further step, as seen in FIG. 4, includes filling the trench regions in the first complementarymaterial with a second complementary material (e.g. oxide 121). Ingeneral, the first and second complementary materials can be any twomaterials with different etch selectivity; e.g., amorphous silicon andsilicon nitride or other material pairs apparent to the skilledartisan—an etchant that works on material 107 should not work onmaterial 121 and vice versa.

It is worth noting that the substrate 101 can include, for example, adielectric such as a low-k dielectric having a value of 2.4 or 2.7, or amix of different dielectric layers, outward of a base silicon substrate(omitted from the figure to avoid clutter).

An additional step, as seen in FIG. 5 , includes grafting a polymerbrush on the second complementary material but not the firstcomplementary material, to form polymer brush regions 123 withintermediate regions 124 of first complementary material not covered bythe polymer brush. Another step, as seen in FIG. 6 , includesanisotropically etching the first complementary material at theintermediate regions but not the polymer brush regions. Still anotherstep, as seen in FIG. 7 , includes etching the organic planarizationlayer, inward of the intermediate regions 124, to provide a plurality oforganic planarization layer pillars 130 in the organic planarizationlayer. The organic planarization layer pillars define a plurality oforganic planarization layer trenches 132 in the organic planarizationlayer. The organic planarization layer trenches are inverted withrespect to the photoresist pillars. The polymer brush is also removedduring the etch of the organic planarization layer, in one or moreembodiments.

Thus, in one or more embodiments, the pattern in the OPL is invertedwith respect to the pattern in the photoresist. For example, the closedarea (pillar) in the photoresist becomes the trench in the OPL and canbe printed at the critical dimension and defect free. In some cases, theorganic planarization layer trenches and the organic planarization layerpillars are inverted with respect to the photoresist pillars and thephotoresist trenches.

As noted, in some instances, the first complementary material includesamorphous silicon and the second complementary material includes one ofoxide and silicon nitride.

In a non-limiting example, in the providing step, the photoresistpillars and the photoresist trenches have similar widths. For example,each may have a width of 0.5a, where the pitch a is less than or equalto 40 nm.

In one or more embodiments, in the providing step, the underlyingsubstrate includes an ultra-low-conductivity layer 101.

In a non-limiting example, in the providing step, the hard mask stack103 includes TEOS, TiN, and sacrificial SiN.

In some cases, in the providing step, the amorphous silicon has athickness of from 10 to 15 nanometers.

In one or more embodiments, the partial etching of the amorphous siliconis carried out such that bridges of amorphous silicon (FIG. 2 115, 117)remaining in at least a portion of the trench regions in the amorphoussilicon have a height less than a total thickness of the amorphoussilicon.

In some cases, the partial etching of the amorphous silicon includes adescum etch followed by an amorphous-silicon-specific etch.

Some embodiments further include patterning the photoresist layer, toprovide the patterned photoresist layer, using Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV)lithography. As will be appreciated by the skilled artisan, Extremeultraviolet lithography (also known as EUV or EUVL) is a next-generationlithography technology using an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wavelength onthe order of 13.5 nm. One or more embodiments help to address thelimitations of stochastic defects in EUV, specifically, themicrobridges, and invert the tone to shrink the pitch and carry outinverse tone patterning.

Some embodiments even further include transferring a pattern includingthe organic planarization layer pillars and the organic planarizationlayer trenches into the underlying substrate and metallizing same.

Furthermore, given the discussion thus far, it will be appreciated that,in general terms, another exemplary method, according to another aspectof the invention, includes the step (refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 8 view132) of providing an initial semiconductor structure including anunderlying substrate 101, a hard mask stack 103 outward of theunderlying substrate, an organic planarization layer 105 outward of thehard mask stack, a first complementary material (e.g. amorphous siliconlayer 107) outward of the organic planarization layer, a secondcomplementary material (e.g. nitride layer 133 (omitted from FIG. 1 forillustrative brevity, seen post-etch in FIG. 8 view 132)) outward of thefirst complementary material, and a patterned photoresist layer 109outward of the second complementary material. The second complementarymaterial is preferentially etchable with respect to the firstcomplementary material. The patterned photoresist layer is patternedinto a plurality of photoresist pillars 110 defining a plurality ofphotoresist trenches 112. Patterning and lithography per se arewell-known to the skilled artisan and the skilled artisan will be ableto implement embodiments of the invention given the teachings herein).Further regarding the first and second complementary materials such as107, 133, amorphous silicon and silicon nitride are non-limitingexamples. Other examples include a silicon oxide layer and a metal oxidelayer, a silicon nitride layer and a metal oxide layer, or a siliconnitride layer and a silicon carbide layer (in the case where the lattertwo materials provided adequate selectivity). Furthermore, in one ormore embodiments, the polymer brush can be tailored to attach to thepreferred surface accordingly.

A further step, referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 8 view 132, includesetching the second complementary material and partially etching thefirst complementary material, inward of the photoresist trenches, toprovide first complementary material-second complementary material (e.g.nitride-amorphous silicon) trench regions 135 in the secondcomplementary material and the first complementary material, with firstcomplementary material-second complementary material (e.g.nitride-amorphous silicon) pillar regions 134 intermediate the firstcomplementary material-second complementary material trench regions. Astill further step, as seen in FIG. 3 , includes removing the patternedphotoresist layer. An even further step, as seen in FIG. 8 view 136,includes grafting a polymer brush 137 on the first complementarymaterial-second complementary material trench regions but not the firstcomplementary material-second complementary material silicon pillarregions.

Still a further step includes etching (typically, an anisotropic etch)the first complementary material-second complementary material pillarregions 134 but not the first complementary material-secondcomplementary material trench regions with the polymer brush 137.Pattern transfer etching is well-known; etching, e.g., silicon nitridewith respect to an organic material is also well-known and the skilledartisan will be able to implement embodiments of the invention given theteachings herein. Yet a further step includes etching the organicplanarization layer, inward of the first complementary material-secondcomplementary material pillar regions 134, to provide a plurality oforganic planarization layer pillars in the organic planarization layer.The organic planarization layer pillars define a plurality of organicplanarization layer trenches in the organic planarization layer. Theprocess just described is analogous to that depicted in FIGS. 6 and 7 ,with the pillars forming under the polymer brush and the trenchestherebetween. In one or more embodiments, the organic planarizationlayer trenches are inverted with respect to the photoresist pillars;refer generally to the above discussion of pattern inversion. Hereagain, “inverted” refers to the closed area (pillar) becoming the trenchwhich can be printed at the critical dimension and defect free. Thepolymer brush is also removed during the etch of the organicplanarization layer, analogously to FIG. 7 .

One pertinent aspect of one or more embodiments is that different trenchheights in a layer such as an amorphous silicon layer or similar layer,which occur due to defects, are not transferred into the underlyingsubstrate, because of the tone inversion.

As discussed, in a non-limiting example, the first complementarymaterial includes amorphous silicon and the second complementarymaterial includes nitride. Some embodiments further include patterningthe photoresist layer, to provide the patterned photoresist layer, usingExtreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. Some embodiments still furtherinclude transferring a pattern including the organic planarization layerpillars and the organic planarization layer trenches into the underlyingsubstrate and metallizing same.

In some instances, in the providing step, the photoresist pillars andthe photoresist trenches have similar widths. Furthermore, in someinstances, in the providing step, the underlying substrate includes anultra-low-conductivity layer.

Even further, given the discussion thus far, it will be appreciatedthat, in general terms, still another exemplary method, according tostill another aspect of the invention, includes the step (see FIG. 1 )of providing an initial semiconductor structure including an underlyingsubstrate 101, a hard mask stack 103 outward of the underlyingsubstrate, an organic planarization layer 105 outward of the hard maskstack, a first complementary material (e.g., amorphous silicon layer107) outward of the organic planarization layer, and a patternedphotoresist layer 109 outward of the first complementary material. Thepatterned photoresist layer is patterned into a plurality of photoresistpillars 110 defining a plurality of photoresist trenches 112. A furtherstep, as seen in FIG. 2 , includes partially etching the firstcomplementary material inward of the trenches, to provide firstcomplementary material trench regions 116 in the first complementarymaterial. A still further step, as seen in FIG. 3 , includes removingthe patterned photoresist layer. An even further step, as seen in FIG. 4, includes filling the trench regions in the first complementarymaterial with second complementary material (e.g. oxide 121).

Yet a further step, referring to FIG. 9 , includes selectivelydepositing a third complementary material (e.g. nitride) on the secondcomplementary material to form a plurality of third complementarymaterial-covered regions 140 and a plurality of intermediate regions 142not covered with the third complementary material. The thirdcomplementary material is selected to grow selectively on the secondcomplementary material but not directly on the first complementarymaterial, and the third complementary material is preferentiallyetchable with respect to the first complementary material. Thus, thethird complementary material should be able to selectively grow on thematerial in the trenches and overspread to the side but not growdirectly on the material 107 and should also etch differently than thematerial 107; non-limiting examples include a nitride (e.g. siliconnitride or a metal nitride) or metal oxide in contrast to amorphoussilicon.

Another step includes anisotropically etching the first complementarymaterial inward of the intermediate regions but not inward of the thirdcomplementary material-covered regions, as seen in FIG. 10 . Referringto FIG. 11 , still another step includes etching the organicplanarization layer, inward of the intermediate regions 142, to providea plurality of organic planarization layer pillars 153 in the organicplanarization layer. The organic planarization layer pillars define aplurality of organic planarization layer trenches 155 in the organicplanarization layer. In one or more embodiments, the organicplanarization layer trenches are inverted with respect to thephotoresist pillars; refer generally to the above discussion of patterninversion. Here again, “inverted” refers to the closed area (pillar)becoming the trench which can be printed at the critical dimension anddefect free.

As noted, in a non-limiting example, the first complementary materialincludes amorphous silicon, the second complementary material includesoxide, and the third complementary material includes nitride.

Referring to views 141A and 143 of FIG. 9 , in some cases, in the stepof selectively depositing the nitride, the nitride is deposited suchthat the nitride-covered regions overlap the oxide.

Referring to view 143 of FIG. 9 , in some cases, in the step ofselectively depositing the nitride, the nitride is deposited such thatthe nitride-covered regions overlap the oxide by about 11 nanometers andextend above the oxide by about 10 nanometers.

In one or more embodiments, selectively depositing the thirdcomplementary material on the second complementary material includescarrying out atomic layer deposition of the third complementary materialto control the critical dimension (CD). Indeed, the extent ofmushrooming can be precisely controlled by controlling the number of ALDcycles, and mushroom-type selective deposition of the inorganic hardmaskis used in one or more embodiments to control the critical dimension ofthe pattern. In one or more embodiments, mushrooming is accounted forwhen the pattern transfer is carried out; the mushroom cap regiondefines the line edge, sets the width of the pillars and thereforindirectly sets the width of the trenches; thus, it controls the CD.

Some embodiments further include patterning the photoresist layer, toprovide the patterned photoresist layer, using Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV)lithography. Some embodiments still further include transferring apattern including the organic planarization layer pillars and theorganic planarization layer trenches into the underlying substrate andmetallizing same.

In some instances, in the providing step, the photoresist pillars andthe photoresist trenches have similar widths. Furthermore, in someinstances, in the providing step, the underlying substrate includes anultra-low-conductivity layer.

At least a portion of the techniques described above may be implementedin an integrated circuit. In forming integrated circuits, identical diesare typically fabricated in a repeated pattern on a surface of asemiconductor wafer. Each die includes a device described herein, andmay include other structures and/or circuits. The individual dies arecut or diced from the wafer, then packaged as an integrated circuit. Oneskilled in the art would know how to dice wafers and package die toproduce integrated circuits. Any of the exemplary devices illustrated inthe accompanying figures, or portions thereof, may be part of anintegrated circuit. Integrated circuits so manufactured are consideredpart of this invention.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the exemplary structuresdiscussed above can be distributed in raw form (i.e., a single waferhaving multiple unpackaged chips), as bare dies, in packaged form, orincorporated as parts of intermediate products or end products thatbenefit from having transistors therein formed in accordance with one ormore of the exemplary embodiments.

The illustrations of embodiments described herein are intended toprovide a general understanding of the various embodiments, and they arenot intended to serve as a complete description of all the elements andfeatures of apparatus and systems that might make use of the circuitsand techniques described herein. Many other embodiments will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art given the teachings herein; otherembodiments are utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural andlogical substitutions and changes can be made without departing from thescope of this invention. It should also be noted that, in somealternative implementations, some of the steps of the exemplary methodsmay occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two stepsshown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or certain steps may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. The drawings are alsomerely representational and are not drawn to scale. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense.

Embodiments are referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, bythe term “embodiment” merely for convenience and without intending tolimit the scope of this application to any single embodiment orinventive concept if more than one is, in fact, shown. Thus, althoughspecific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, itshould be understood that an arrangement achieving the same purpose canbe substituted for the specific embodiment(s) shown; that is, thisinvention is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations ofvarious embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and otherembodiments not specifically described herein, will become apparent tothose of skill in the art given the teachings herein.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, thesingular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended to include the pluralforms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It willbe further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,”when used in this specification, specify the presence of statedfeatures, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do notpreclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps,operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. Terms such as“bottom”, “top”, “above”, “over”, “under” and “below” are used toindicate relative positioning of elements or structures to each other asopposed to relative elevation. If a layer of a structure is describedherein as “over” or adjoining another layer, it will be understood thatthere may or may not be intermediate elements or layers between the twospecified layers. If a layer is described as “directly on” anotherlayer, direct contact of the two layers is indicated.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of meansor step-plus-function elements, if any, in the claims below are intendedto include any structure, material, or act for performing the functionin combination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the various embodiments has been presented for purposesof illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations willbe apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing fromthe scope and spirit thereof. The embodiments were chosen and describedin order to best explain principles and practical applications, and toenable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the variousembodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particularuse contemplated.

The abstract is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b), whichrequires an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain thenature of the technical invention. It is submitted with theunderstanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scopeor meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing DetailedDescription, it can be seen that various features are grouped togetherin a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the invention.This method of invention is not to be interpreted as reflecting anintention that the claimed embodiments require more features than areexpressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the appended claims reflect,the claimed subject matter may lie in less than all features of a singleembodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into theDetailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as separatelyclaimed subject matter.

Given the teachings provided herein, one of ordinary skill in the artwill be able to contemplate other implementations and applications ofthe techniques and disclosed embodiments. Although illustrativeembodiments have been described herein with reference to theaccompanying drawings, it is to be understood that illustrativeembodiments are not limited to those precise embodiments, and thatvarious other changes and modifications are made therein by one skilledin the art without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: providing an initialsemiconductor structure including an underlying substrate, a hard maskstack outward of the underlying substrate, an organic planarizationlayer outward of the hard mask stack, a first complementary materialoutward of the organic planarization layer, and a patterned photoresistlayer outward of the first complementary material, wherein the patternedphotoresist layer is patterned into a plurality of photoresist pillarsdefining a plurality of photoresist trenches; partially etching saidfirst complementary material inward of said trenches, to provide firstcomplementary material trench regions in said first complementarymaterial; removing said patterned photoresist layer; filling said trenchregions in said first complementary material with a second complementarymaterial, wherein said second complementary material is preferentiallyetchable with respect to said first complementary material; selectivelydepositing a third complementary material on said second complementarymaterial to form a plurality of third complementary material-coveredregions and a plurality of intermediate regions not covered with saidthird complementary material, wherein said third complementary materialis selected to grow selectively on said second complementary materialbut not directly on said first complementary material, and wherein saidthird complementary material is preferentially etchable with respect tosaid first complementary material; anisotropically etching said firstcomplementary material inward of said intermediate regions but notinward of said third complementary material-covered regions; and etchingsaid organic planarization layer, inward of said intermediate regions,to provide a plurality of organic planarization layer pillars in saidorganic planarization layer, said organic planarization layer pillarsdefining a plurality of organic planarization layer trenches in saidorganic planarization layer, said organic planarization layer trenchesbeing inverted with respect to said photoresist pillars.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein said first complementary material comprisesamorphous silicon, said second complementary material comprises oxide,and said third complementary material comprises nitride.
 3. The methodof claim 2, wherein, in said step of selectively depositing saidnitride, said nitride is deposited such that said nitride-coveredregions overlap said oxide.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein, in saidstep of selectively depositing said nitride, said nitride is depositedsuch that said nitride-covered regions extend above said oxide.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein, in said step of selectively depositing saidnitride, said nitride is deposited such that said nitride-coveredregions overlap said oxide by 11 nanometers and extend above said oxideby 10 nanometers.
 6. The method of claim 3, wherein selectivelydepositing said third complementary material on said secondcomplementary material comprises carrying out atomic layer deposition ofsaid third complementary material to control critical dimension.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, further comprising transferring a pattern comprisingsaid organic planarization layer pillars and said organic planarizationlayer trenches into said underlying substrate and metallizing same. 8.The method of claim 2, wherein, in said providing step, said photoresistpillars and said photoresist trenches have similar widths.
 9. The methodof claim 8, wherein, in said providing step, said underlying substratecomprises an ultra-low-conductivity layer.